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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Hola amigos! Today I have some swatches of four new shades that Nicole by OPI is releasing for 2013. The first color I have to show you is called Please Red-cycle and is a juicy tomato red creme with a slight orange-y tinge. I needed two coats.

Still Into Pink is a super bright, barbie pink. It dried matte; I'm not sure if this is the intended finish or not, but I really like it! This is two coats left to dry by itself.

And this is two coats of Still Into Pink with one coat of topcoat.

Plum to Your Senses is a deep, shimmery plum purple. I used two coats here as well.

Totally in the Dark is a very pretty black polish with silver shimmer. This is a great one to wear if you want to wear black polish but don't want it to look quite so harsh. Two coats for opacity.

From Nicole by OPI: "Nicole by OPI Nail Lacquers and Nail Treatments contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde. These will be available in stores beginning January 2013 for $7.99 each at retailers including select Walmart, Target, CVS, Rite Aid, Kmart, Kroger, ULTA, H-E-B, Meijer and Duane Reade locations."

A Butterfly Moment was a polish that I was sure wouldn't work for me but I ended up loving. I never wear colors like this, but maybe it's the engagement ring that's making me lean towards softer, more feminine shades? Anyway, this is a gorgeous pink/peach with golden shimmer that was absolutely perfect in two coats of polish.

Pink Yet Lavender is a blingy rose pink glitter topper with smaller holographic silver glitter. This is two coats over A Butterfly Moment.

Anti-Bleak is a fantastic reddish purple creme. It has such an amazing formula and was perfectly opaque in two coats.

Sprung is a coppery metallic shimmer that was a bit sheer on application. I need three coats for this opacity, but it's totally worth it. This is an awesome shade.

Get Your Number is the first of the Liquid Sand polishes that I tried and I actually really liked it. This finish of these polishes is definitely unique and probably won't be for everyone. It's kind of like a fine grit sand paper; it's not going to hurt you if you rub it but it definitely isn't smooth. They cover nicely though in two coats.

Can't Let Go is a blueish purple shade that also needed two coats for opacity. There are some larger hex glitters mixed in with this one.

Stay the Night is a black textured matte base with magenta glitter that stays sparkly even though the polish is matte. This was more sheer than the others and probably could benefit from being layered over plain black polish. This is two coats of it alone.

The Impossible is a pinkish red jelly that doesn't seem to dry as matte as the others. It also has star glitter in the mix which makes it really interesting and unique. However, I definitely recommend letting it sit upside for a little while before using it to have an easier time getting the stars out.

The Mariah Carey Collection is available now at Professional Salons, including
Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty,
Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail
for each nail lacquer.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting on Friday, but today I have some awesome new colors from Tough As Nails to show you. This is called the Dregs collection and it consists of two work-friendly glitter shades and two beautiful shimmers.

Magdalene Laundry Service is a baby pink base with rose colored glitter. This is three coats.

East End Girl is a gorgeous dusty teal with unique blue shimmer; two coats are used here.

The Redundant Woman is a stunning pale grayed-out lilac with a bit of hidden pink shimmer within. This is two coats.

Builder's Tea is a milky cocoa shimmer with golden glitter. I needed three coats for opacity.

If you want to pick any of these beauties up, they are for sale on Etsy in both full ($7) and shorty size ($4.50) bottles. Which is your favorite?

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

This post is way overdue but here are my swatches of Nicole by OPI's Modern Family collection! You guys are going to love this one; there are so many pretty cremes!

Alex by the Books is a minty, faded green. This was two coats of polish.

My Jay or the Highway is a mushroom/putty type of shade. You know the type, so ugly it's pretty! Two coats of color here.

I Do De-Claire is a frosty medium pink that was good in two coats.

Stand By Your Manny is a gorgeous color but had a strange formula. What you see below is three coats and I had an issue with the polish dragging. I will probably layer this over a baby blue creme next time I wear it to avoid this.

Am I Making Myself Claire? is a pale, faded rosey purple, a perfect winter neutral. Good coverage in two coats.

A Phil's Paradise has a foil/metallic finish very similar to the two shades from the Bond collection in the winter. It was a little sheer so I did three coats.

A Like-Haley Story is my favorite of the bunch. This hot pink is not messing around! If you look closely you can also see some awesome subtle shimmer! <3 br="br" coats="coats" for="for" opacity.="opacity." two="two">3>

Basking in Gloria is a shimmery deep pinkish red. I used three coats for this swatch as it's a bit sheer.

Candid Cameron. Holyyy cow. I think I lied. This is actually my favorite color of the collection. Two coats of this beauty and I feel like I'm staring into the sparkling ocean somewhere way south of here!

She's Lily Something is a shimmery pink top coat with star glitter interspersed. I layered two coats over Basking in Gloria. The stars were so easy to get out of this one!

Haley Good Lookin' is a mixture of rosey pink glitter with larger pink holographic hex glitter. This is two coats over Candid Cameron.

Back in My Gloria Days is a stunning royal purple shimmer. It has a duochrome look to it in the bottle but it doesn't really translate to the nail. Three coats here.

What's the Mitch-uation? is a shimmery, almost bordering on frosty, indigo blue. I did three coats for this swatch.

Last but not least is Luke of the Draw, an edgy mix of silvery gunmetal glitter in a charcoal gray jelly base. This is three coats on it's own, but I would definitely layer this over black or dark gray next time.

The Modern Family is available now at retailers such as Walmart, Target, Ulta, etc. They retail for $7.99. Which ones would you love to have?

Monday, January 14, 2013

Hey guys! Sorry for the late post today; I've been so preoccupied with wedding stuff and going back to school that blog things kind of fell by the wayside. I might go to posting whenever I feel like it instead of strict days, but I haven't decided yet. I don't want to stop blogging because I really enjoy it, but I feel like there are other things that are taking precedence in my life right now. But anyway, today I have two polishes from the totally awesome Darling Diva Polish to show you.

Pot 'O Gold is St. Patrick's Day explosion in a bottle. I'm not Irish and I don't really celebrate, but I will totally rock this as my St. Patty's mani! This is one coat over NOPI A Phil's Paradise.

Ménage á Trois is a gorgeous mixture of pink, purple, and red glitter that screams Valentine's Day to me. This is two coats over NOPI A Like-Haley Story. This polish has a slightly tinted base with some shimmer as well.

Darling Diva Polish can be purchased on Etsy and make sure to follow them on Facebook to keep up with all their new releases and promotions!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Today I have a gorgeous collection from Black Cat Lacquer inspired by the television show Portlandia. I've never actually seen the show, but the polishes that it spawned are totally awesome! Have a look!

The Dream of the '90's is Alive is a seriously awesome mix of multiple colors and types of glitter in a grayish jelly base. I have two coats here layered over NOPI Am I Making Myself Claire? You could wear this on it's own for more of a jelly look.

Put a Bird On It is a light blue jelly base with pastel glitters. This is two coats layered over NOPI Stand By Your Manny. Again, this could be worn alone for a jelly look, but I prefer them like this.

I was going to layer We Can Pickle That! like I did with the first two polishes, but I decided I'd wear this one alone so you could see the different. This is three normal coats of the minty jelly glitter.

Sanitation Twins is the most AWESOME mix of glitter. I absolutely love the combination I did; this is two coats layered over NOPI A Like-Haley Story.

Last but not least, Women & Women First is a jelly pink shimmer with black and white glitter. This is two coats over NOPI I Do De-Claire.

If you are interested, you can purchase these polishes here. As a special treat for my readers, I have a code for 25% off your purchase! Just enter NAILNETWORK25 at checkout. The code expires on February 3rd.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Hi guys! Today I have some swatches for you from Elixir Lacquers, a hand made polish company. The polishes can be purchased at www.elixirlacquers.com.

Elixiversary is a special, limited edition polish made to commemorate the one year anniversary of Elixir Lacquers. There will be only 75 bottles of this polish available for purchase split equally between January 16th, February 16th, and March 16th at 1PM EST each day. This is two coats over NOPI Alex by the Books.

Double D-Struction is part of the Roller Derby Ruckus collection, which will be released on February 1st. This is two coats over Essie Sand Tropez.

Trixie Trecherous is also part of the Roller Derby Ruckus collection. This is two coats over NOPI My Jay or the Highway.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Happy Monday everyone! I've got a swatch of Nerd Lacquer Shiny for you today that's been hiding out in my draft folder for quite a while. I'm obsessed with the show Firefly and I was lucky enough to do a swap for this color. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get the other two Firefly-themed polishes when Nerd Lacquer returns.

This is two coats of Shiny with top coat. It is the perfect shade of blue and packed with silver glitter and shimmer. Shiny indeed!

Friday, January 4, 2013

I've had this post in my drafts for a while now and thought it was finally time to share it. I wasn't completely in love with the gold flake topcoats that were coming out late last year, but when the Sephora by OPI one went on crazy sale, I knew I had to try it. For $3, I'm really happy!

This is two coats of It's Real over Zoya Anja. I love how the gold looks over the deep red. Ultimately though, I would never have paid the full retail price of $30 for this; that's insanity! I think that there are a ton of colors that this would look awesome over (anything jewel-toned especially) and I'm excited to try it over a turquoise in the summer!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Hey guys! Happy New Year! To ring in 2013, I have a review of the China Glaze Tranzitions collection for all of you. The Tranzitions polishes change color with a clear topcoat, so you essentially get two colors in one bottle.

Duplicityy changes from mint green to teal with top coat.

Split Perso-NAIL-ity changes from a dusty rose pink to a bright fuchsia with topcoat.

These are pretty fun, but I'm not completely sold on them. The formulas left much to be desired; they were thick and had a tendency to drag. The two I would really recommend against are Altered Reality and Shape Shifter; they just don't change enough to be interesting and I don't really like the colors. Any of the creme colors would be worth picking up though if this collection interests you. Tranzitions will be available sometime this month!